Classroom Corner – Roy’s Place – Juniper Styling

An open window into the comings and goings of students and their trees attending our regular weekend and midweek bonsai classes under the ever watchful eyes of John Hanby.

Classroom Corner – Roy’s Place – Juniper Styling

The first post detailing our last visit to Roy’s place was published on the 16th January 2013 under the Classroom Corner section.

Roy has several larger trees that he can’t transport to classes so sometimes I have to go to the trees! On this occasion it was to work on a Juniper Parsonii. The tree had been initially styled at the nursery in the autumn of 2011. Branches had been selected and some deadwood created. The tree had then been allowed a season to recover and to grow.

Too many branches had been left at the top as possibilities for a new apex whilst the lower branch is too large and hides the trunk/shari. They are all removed. Roy is sitting down at this point!

Any remaining branches without wire are now totally wired including some of the finer shoots. The shari on the trunk can now be safely widened.

After the branches have been positioned the tree is transplanted and repotted out of the plant pot into a suitable mica pot. It is now much more manageable and transportable from Roy’s point of view.

The lower branch to the right will be reduced in size and may even be removed completely in due course. The large jin adjoining the apex will also be gradually reduced as the line of the shari develops further.

This tree has come a long way from the original piece of field-grown material. You can now clearly see the lines of the finished image and just how impressive a tree this Juniper will become.

Visits to Roy’s place are a welcome distraction and rewarding for both of us as well as the tree. I am sure there will be more to come so watch this space…….

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3 comments

roy hicks

May 8, 2013 at 9:17 pm

Yes this tree has come a long way since work was started on its styling & refinement & I must say I’m thrilled with the way it has developed. There are signs of new growth on all the foliage tips & the tree looks very healthy in its new pot. Thanks for all your help & guidance John.

I know that stripping the bark off in a controlled way doesn’t harm the tree in the long term, but does it suffer any stress short term? Do you need to add more nutrients or water while it attempts to heal? Also, do you bleach the wood at all to keep it white looking, like a fresh lightning strike?

roy hicks

June 2, 2013 at 6:11 pm

Hi Lew, i’ll try & answer your question, short / long term I haven’t noticed any problem with the tree after creating jins etc, I also use lime sulphur to bleach the deadwood white as in the pictures.
hope this helps, regards Roy.